Seven California residents now face federal charges for their roles in an alleged mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded lenders of more than $3 million. According to court documents, the defendants conspired to defraud mortgage lending companies and financial institutions by making false statements on loan applications and short-sale applications.

A Kentucky man will spend the next 12 years in federal prison for leading a spectacularly massive scheme that involved defrauding the Internal Revenue Service of $53 million, bribing senior bank executives, the fraudulent purchase of an insurance company and the defrauding of insurance regulators and an investment bank.

Three California residents are facing between 60 and 170 years in federal prison after they were convicted of running a nationwide mortgage modification scam that defrauded thousands of distressed homeowners out of millions of dollars.

A former Dallas Cowboys player is out of federal prison after serving three years for taking part in a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme, which involved at least 10 other people who were also convicted. The scheme saw the group recruit straw buyers who falsified their income documents to obtain loans for inflated prices.

“Investors rely on credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s to play it straight when rating complex securities like CMBS,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC Enforcement Division. “But Standard & Poor’s elevated its own financial interests above investors by loosening its rating criteria to obtain business and then obscuring these changes from investors."

Marie Lucie Tondreau, the mayor of North Miami, Florida, was found guilty of mortgage fraud, stemming from her part in a scheme that defrauded lenders to the tune of $8 million. Prosecutors said she used her fame to recruit straw buyers.

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